Saturday, December 27, 2014

On Having Two Places To Call Home



This book came into my life some time ago. My "countries" are the California of my birth and the Washington State where I have lived since I was 24 years old.  They are two very distinct places. In 1973, I lived briefly in Massachusetts near Walden Pond but didn't feel any sense of being at home there.  Forty years have gone by very quickly in Washington State.  I haven't been able to travel to California since 2008, but I visit often in dreams and memories and blogs. When I look through this book, I feel close to Allen Say and his grandfather.

"The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other."
(Allen Say, from Grandfather's Journey)

I have loved and been loved by two places.

3 comments:

Tara said...

Lovely read. I still feel like I'm in Santa Cruz, after having been there for 30 plus years. You've chosen a beautiful place to live up there in Washington. I was just telling my husband about it, as my Bellingham sis is visiting.

Happy New Year, friend!

Anonymous said...

California is the home of my heart. I was born in NJ and lived there the first 18 years of my life. When my parents moved to California in 1970, we came west and fell in love. I have lived in many places, but I have always felt that California was my country. I hope you do get a chance to go to California again and walk the beaches of your dreams.

Happy New Year!

am said...

Tara -- Happy New Year to you and your husband and your sister, too!

Among my earliest memories is a visit with my family to the beach where the boardwalk is in Santa Cruz. I had lived in San Francisco, San Mateo, Palo Alto, and Redwood City by the time I was 7 years old. One of my young adult dreams that didn't come true was to live in Santa Cruz. You and robin andrea and roger lived that dream.

Come to think of it, Bellingham is very much like Santa Cruz in a Pacific Northwest way. It is a small town in the midst of a beautiful landscape next to salt water, has a lively music and arts atmosphere, and is a university town with an always changing population of students of all ages.

robin andrea-- Happy New Year to you and roger!

The year 1970 was a splendid time for you to arrive in California! That year I spent many weekends on the beaches along the coast highway between Montara and Santa Cruz. That is still very clear in my mind. Love of a place is deep in our psyches. It is a true and lasting love.